Post-fire Point Mugu State Park ready to reopen to campers, hikers

Trails and campgrounds in Point Mugu State Park damaged by the Springs fire earlier this month will reopen Friday but officials warn visitors to stay out of closed areas to help the area recover, according to an announcement.

The popular Sycamore and La Jolla campgrounds off Pacific Coast Highway at the southern end of the park will open in time for the Memorial Day weekend. Campgrounds have been closed since May 2 when the fire burned from Newbury Park to the ocean and torched about 12,000 acres of the almost 14,000-acre park. (ThornhillBroome Campground and Sycamore Cove day-use area remain open and were unaffected by closures.)

The Chumash trail and back-country routes will reopen too, allowing a first-hand look at the fire-ravaged landscape. Trail repairs will be ongoing, and the park will open at sunrise and close at sunset until further notice.

Park officials warn visitors not to wander off trail and hamper habitat recovery. "We'll be monitoring the situation closely, and if we find that the visitors are creating negative impacts on these very sensitive resources, we'll have to look at closing the back-country trails and fire roads until it's not quite so fragile," Craig Sap, district superintendent for California State Parks said in the statement.

The fire, which burned a total of almost 25,000 acres, was contained May 11.